Miguel Cabrera and Andrew McCutchen took home MVP awards after leading their teams to the playoffs. (AP)

NEW YORK -- Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen and Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera both coasted Thursday to Most Valuable Player awards.

McCutchen won the National League honor by a surprisingly wide margin after leading a baseball revival in Pittsburgh. He drew 28 of the 30 first-place votes from members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Cabrera took the AL prize for the second straight year, once again winning by a comfortable gap over Angels outfielder Mike Trout.

A season after posting the majors' first Triple Crown in 45 years, Cabrera came back to lead baseball in hitting at .348 and finish second with 44 home runs and 137 RBIs.

Cabrera got 23 of 30 first-place votes, becoming the first player to win consecutive AL MVPs since Frank Thomas for the Chicago White Sox in 1993 and 1994 (see full story).

MLB takes big step with instant replayORLANDO, Fla. -- Another baseball tradition is about to largely disappear: a manager, with a crazed look in his eyes, charging the field and getting into a face-to-face shouting match with an umpire.

Instead, most calls on the field next season will be subject to video review by umpires in New York.

Major League Baseball took the first vote in a two-step process Thursday, unanimously approving funding for expanded instant replay in 2014. They plan to approve the new rules when they meet Jan. 16 in Paradise Valley, Ariz., after agreements with the unions for umpires and players (see full story).

Proposal dropped for new bidding system with JapanORLANDO, Fla. -- Major League Baseball is withdrawing its proposal for a new bidding system with Japan, making it uncertain whether prized pitcher Masahiro Tanaka will be on the market this offseason.

MLB Chief Operating Officer Rob Manfred said Japanese officials had not acted quickly enough on MLB's proposal for a new agreement and that a new proposal will be forwarded.

MLB's proposal had called for a player's price to be determined at a figure somewhere between the top and No. 2 bids, and would have added a penalty fee of 2.5 percent of that figure if the club with the winning bid failed to sign the player, two people who attended the meeting said (see full story).